AutoCAD on Parallels

[chell]

Are there any AutoCAD users out there that have tried parallels. Does it run well with such graphic intense programs??

[kaidomac]

I'm not an AutoCAD user, but I've tried Rhino3D, an industrial design program (think lightweight CAD). It runs pretty well. The interface is a bit laggy (due to the emulated graphics card, I'd imagine), but it is definately both functional and useable.

[jwins]

I currently have AutoCAD 2007 installed and running under Parallels. The performance is acceptable but effects that depend on 3D hardware acceleration are emulated in software or absent. If your work is primarily 2D, you should not experience any degredation in performance as long as you have adequate RAM assigned to the VM. I also have Autodesk Revit Building installed and performance is acceptable on the models I have tested.

[chell]

I have yet to buy my new Mac......should I buy extra RAM in order to run the program smoothly?

[rangr]

I've been running Autocad 2002 since the first beta. There was a problem with certain commands (Scale, for example) but it was taken care of in beta 6 (THANK YOU PARALLELS FOR LISTENING AND SOLVING!). I'm using it everyday, with no problems at all.

The one and only difference is that things like zooming in and out are not as smooth as with boot camp or on a PC with a good graphics card. It's purely a visual difference, the speed of use is not affected... am hoping that Parallels is able to drive the Video card natively with future version to take care of this (and allow OpenGL reliant apps to run at full speed) but that's a different topic.

[Sheppy]

I have yet to buy my new Mac......should I buy extra RAM in order to run the program smoothly?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Heck yes.

Explanative answer: Macs tend to come with only enough memory for very basic use. I generally recommend to everyone that they get as much memory as they can. These days, I pretty much won't touch a machine with less than 768 MB in it, and I prefer 1 GB.

Both my iMac and my MacBook Pro are fully loaded with 2 GB.

[andreibosco]

I currently have AutoCAD 2007 installed and running under Parallels. The performance is acceptable but effects that depend on 3D hardware acceleration are emulated in software or absent. If your work is primarily 2D, you should not experience any degredation in performance as long as you have adequate RAM assigned to the VM. I also have Autodesk Revit Building installed and performance is acceptable on the models I have tested.
What mac do you have? I'm thinking about buying a macbook and run autocad and revit on parallels.

[amcintyre]

I have run autocad 2006 and sketchup pro though parallels desktop, and while 3d processing is a little slow for both, 2d work and file handling are great (better than running them natively on my Dell at work, which is not a bad system)

FYI, I have a 2.16 ghz MBP with 1gb of ram and a 100 gb hard drive, which seems to be enough for the medium sized files i work with. If you are working with really, really, huge files (greater than about 10 megs), or with extensive 3d rendering, I would upgrade to 2 gb and / or use boot camp instead.

At any rate, i would recommend buying memory in a single so dimm so you can upgrade easily if you wish.

[bomberaia]

JWINS:
I'm interested how Revit is running. Do you have the new beta update of Parrallels? How much ram do you have allocated? thanks.

[bomberaia]

No one uses Revit?

[knath]

One of my coworkers just recently installed Parallels and XP on a Macbook Pro in order to use Autocad 2006, but there are always two cursors on the Autocad screen (both the Autocad crosshairs and the Windows pointer)--anyone have any idea why this is happening or how to fix it? Maybe because of the Mac wireless mouse?

[dblanch369]

One of my coworkers just recently installed Parallels and XP on a Macbook Pro in order to use Autocad 2006, but there are always two cursors on the Autocad screen (both the Autocad crosshairs and the Windows pointer)--anyone have any idea why this is happening or how to fix it? Maybe because of the Mac wireless mouse?

Actually, if you uninstall Parallels tools, and then reinstall them again, be sure to de-select the 'mouse sync', and you'll find that the cursor in Autocad is normal again. I have not heard of if and when Parallels will be fixing this bug, but they are aware of it. This affects many different versions of Autocad, even the LT versions from what I hear.

The downside, of course, is that you have to use the ctrl-alt key combo to leave the guest OS and use the mouse in OSX

[billearl]

With the latest Parallels build 1910, all of my Windows apps (AutoCAD, MS Office, Google Earth, etc.) run fine with acceleration set to Normal. With acceleration set to High, all still run fine (and faster) except for AutoCAD 2004, which always immediately results in a crash requiring rebooting of Windows. The dialog that appears suggests changing acceleration back to Normal if the problem persists.

Will this problem be addressed by Parallels, or is it something I can fix? Thanks.

(Mac Pro, 3GB, Windows XP Pro)

[magrite]

What mac do you have? I'm thinking about buying a macbook and run autocad and revit on parallels.

You should check out the "no boot disk" thread. We are now up to four pages, and it seems to be primarily new macbook pro users. I dove in last week, hoping to be able to do my work on one computer while traveling. HA. Now a week sitting at airports and in hotels trying to get Windows XP to install. I have my Autodesk set of disks with me in my bag....

[gnue]

i use parallels build 1898. when i m using autocad 2007 my esc button doesnt work. how can i fix it does anyone know?

[irelandshope]

I wrote a thread about my experience with 3D Autocad in Parallels and its working great.
See the thread its called "3D AutoCad & Architectural Desktop 2006 Works Perfectly"
Check it out.

[Elvis_2006]

I'm no AutoCad power user, I use AutoCAD LT 2004 to check drawings by others, and I find that it runs acceptably under parallels. So far I've had no problems, but I'm not exactly stretching it.

I also use 3D Studio Max, which to be honest struggles a bit. Navigating complex scenes is slow, some textures display poorly and anti aliasing does not work in the viewports, all due (no doubt) to the software emulation of the graphics adaptor. Obviously this does not affect the final renders as rendering is a processor driven actvity. I like the advantage of being able to switch between mac and PC whilst I work, but for complex 3D scenes it's more practical to use either a Wintel box or bootcamp.

However, I would say that a few minor bugs aside I'm very impressed with Parallels. 8/10

[archibrat]

I am an architect and have been using both with XP running on a 17" MB Pro with 2 gigs ram with great results. It seems to handle the 3D models fine, renders in about the same speed as my 2yr old Dell Pent. 4 desktop; (about 3 - 30 seconds slower given the rendering options). There is a very slight lag in the mouse tracking, but most people do not notice this issue. My wife's low end Dell laptop has the same issue. There is a problem with the middle button of a 3 button mouse. It does not work to PAN as it does running traditionally. This is a big pain for me. I use my middle button to PAN and having to type in P + enter each time I do so is annoying. This is a Parallels issue with 3 button mice drivers.. They do not allow you to modify the middle button; or program it. Hopefully this will get fixed. I think there is another way around this if you can find someone who can program AutoCAD's mouse input commands.

[flak]

I'm using paralles on my Macbook Pro and a bluethoot logitec mouse... the middle button works just like in a pc. (latest build of paralles and acad 2006)

For the cursor issue... there is a work around: in windows go to the display properties, select the settings tab and press the advanced button... once on the new window select the troubleshoot tab, then look for the hardware acceleration control and select one less than full. This fixes the cursor issue... I been doing great since I discovered thar... good luck.

[billearl]

For the cursor issue... there is a work around: in windows go to the display properties, select the settings tab and press the advanced button... once on the new window select the troubleshoot tab, then look for the hardware acceleration control and select one less than full. This fixes the cursor issue... I been doing great since I discovered thar... good luck.
Thanks for the great tip, flak. It also works in Virtual PC for those with PPC Macs.

(Mac Pro, iBook, AutoCAD 2004)

[jmavra]

I am an architect and have been using both with XP running on a 17" MB Pro with 2 gigs ram with great results. It seems to handle the 3D models fine, renders in about the same speed as my 2yr old Dell Pent. 4 desktop; (about 3 - 30 seconds slower given the rendering options). There is a very slight lag in the mouse tracking, but most people do not notice this issue. My wife's low end Dell laptop has the same issue. There is a problem with the middle button of a 3 button mouse. It does not work to PAN as it does running traditionally. This is a big pain for me. I use my middle button to PAN and having to type in P + enter each time I do so is annoying. This is a Parallels issue with 3 button mice drivers.. They do not allow you to modify the middle button; or program it. Hopefully this will get fixed. I think there is another way around this if you can find someone who can program AutoCAD's mouse input commands.

I was also having the same problem with the middle button not panning, but got it working yesterday. Go to mac System Preferences, then Keyboard/Mouse settings and change the middle button to BUTTON 3. When you go back to Autocad it should now work the way you want it

[Anarchytec]

No one uses Revit?

Heya Bomber. :) PhilR here. Yep - using Revit extensively. Mac Book Pro w/ 2gb ram. One gig is allocated to Parallels. Speed is quite sufficent at lesser resolutions than full screen mode (which is not so much of an issue on 17" screen. Looking forward to MBP with possible 4gb ram.

One ongoing annoyance: the temporary dimension are **very tiny**. A new user probably wouldn't even see them. An experienced user would find having to carefully select them annoying. But maybe less annoying than having to reboot into Boot Camp.

I only reboot for large/demanding datasets. So reboot for >100mb files (WTC).

I'd suggest you set up a Boot Camp partition and then access it from Parallels. This will allow you the option of Booting into XP alone if you need a dedicated OS.

Something very interesting (and appreciated): rendering in Revit (via Parallels) means that you don't lock up your OS when you push the render button. You can actually drag/hide/minimize the Revit window in real-time while rendering. So once I start a render - I hide the view and work in OS X as if nothing is happening. OS X continues to work. I don't run full screen - so hiding Revit during rendering is trivial.

Also - running latest beta build with no issues. Coherence is nice feature. Revit icon sits in OS X dock now. :)

So overall - not as fast as XP alone. But quite sufficent. If the temp dimensions were resolved I could do training via Parallels. Actually submitted this issue to Parallels but have not heard back (yet).

Attached image is of 80mb project. Trying to rotate the whole project with everything open is pokey but still acceptable. Expect to Open/Close worksets selectively and create shortcuts for Hide/Isolate/Reset helps. Basically the stuff you do to work smart anyway. Otherwise - opening/creating new views is fine. Rendering 1800x2000 image took <3 minutes.

Maybe a thread in the AUGI forum for Revit<>OSX/MacIntel Hardware would be helpful as well.

And looking forward to MBP's with 4gb ram...so I can allocate more memory to Revit.

All the best -

Phil

[pablom]

I'm using paralles on my Macbook Pro and a bluethoot logitec mouse... the middle button works just like in a pc. (latest build of paralles and acad 2006)

For the cursor issue... there is a work around: in windows go to the display properties, select the settings tab and press the advanced button... once on the new window select the troubleshoot tab, then look for the hardware acceleration control and select one less than full. This fixes the cursor issue... I been doing great since I discovered thar... good luck.


flack - after all the years I've used Windows I'm not sure why I never thought of that! very good tip to getting rid of the double cursor...


I run an original MacBook (Core Duo not Core 2 Duo) with 2GB ram and 256MB assigned to Parallels with no issues. I do mostly 2D drafting with some 3D solids from time to time and it runs as good as the Dell Inspiron 600 it replaced, for what I need it to do. I work in construction and I have no problems opening and modifying large AutoCAD files from architects and engineers.

I mainly use Parallels for AutoCAD and Internet Explorer to access my company's Exchange webmail, since using anything else limits the webmail's features. But the speed of Parallels is completely adequate, even when I have the MacBook plugged into a 2nd display running at 1600x1200 resolution.

[psyfil]

I have yet to buy my new Mac......should I buy extra RAM in order to run the program smoothly?
Yes--essentially each operating system will see half your RAM--so if you want Windows and OSX to have a gig each, I'd say 2 gig is the minimum.

PJK

[SnowZ]

Have Beta Build 3106 and have no regrets. Would highly recommend Parallels to anyone wishing to run Autodesk

[angelo]

Yep, been using Revit 9.0 and 9.1 a lot in Parallels. The temp dimension bug is the only thing that's annoying. Everything else is just peachy.

It's so nice to have a rest of Mac OS X available for use while working in Revit!

Angelo

[MuSonics]

I just started using Parallels today for the first time. I'm an old-time Mac user and have, for years, been looking for a way to run AutoCAD. It did run, sort of, with Virtual PC, but it was very slow. So, I eventually bought a Windoze PC just to run AutoCAD.

Today I downloaded the latest Parallels (Build 3150), and used Transporter to convert my Virtual PC virtual machine for Parallels. The process was very straightforward, and took about 30 minutes. My VPC machine is about 10 GB, so that's not too bad. (The conversion took 2 steps: first convert the VPC machine while running in VPC on a pre-Intel Mac, transfering this to my Mac Pro, and then convert again on the Mac Pro.)

The very first thing I did was fire up AutoCAD LT 2007. The OS is Windoze XP.

Amazing. It is very fast and my years of looking for a workable Mac/AutoCAD solution are over.

This a absolutely perfect for my needs. I am a consultant, so I am not creating drawings, but I do a lot of markups and overlays (add layers) to send back to architects and other design team members. And, I don't work in 3D. My work is in churches and performing arts centers (acoustics and audio) some with multiple buildings on one campus, and some of these projects (and the AutoCAD files) are hefty.

Also, remember that this particular verision and build of Parallels is a Beta: It's only going to get better.

My setup: Mac Pro Dual-Core Intel @ 2.66 GHz, 9GB Ram, Mac OS 10.4.8

[Anarchytec]

Yep, been using Revit 9.0 and 9.1 a lot in Parallels. The temp dimension bug is the only thing that's annoying. Angelo

Well - seems the temp dimension bug is back in 3.0 (thru latest build).

Hope this gets fixed soon. As is with V3, using Revit is fairly untenable in Parallels.

Back to Boot Camp....:)

-Phil

[lucerodesign1]

I've been running AutoCAD LT on my MBP since January and it's been relatively smooth sailing. The new version of parallels is much better, but I noticed a problem this morning.

I updated to LT 2008 last month and just today started using it in coherence mode. I could not execute the XREF command to manage my external references. I would get a fatal error and AutoCAD would quit. I tried purging, auditing, etc..., but nothing helped, then I tried several other projects and got the same results. Problem with AutoCAD? No, it all worked fine when I went to fullscreen. I'll post on the Autodesk forum as well to see if this is an update that Autodesk can provide. Thankfully there's an easy work around.

Oh and by the way, you can never have too much RAM, especially in a notebook.

[irelandshope]

I'm having a similiar problem with Architectural Desktop 2006. If I launch ADT by double clicking on a dwg file which will launch parallels and then Autocad in coherence it will crash after a few seconds. However if I launch Autocad first in windowed mode and then open the file no problem. I can also switch to coherence and again no problem. It seems strange.

I tried your problem with xrefs but could not cause a fatal error.

[abhayos]

We have been using Autocad in Parallels 3.0 and every time we use the properties dialog box Autocad crashes. Has anyone else had this problem and did you resolve it??

[husnainlotia]

When I switch to full screen running AutoCAD, I get a marked loss of display quality. Any suggetions?

[ludesign]

Are there any AutoCAD users out there that have tried parallels. Does it run well with such graphic intense programs??


I have found at leat two graphics / CAD programs using OpenGL that does not work with version 3, and which worked fine on older versions. When will we see an update?

[cviebrock]

We have been using Autocad in Parallels 3.0 and every time we use the properties dialog box Autocad crashes. Has anyone else had this problem and did you resolve it??

Same issue here. Opening the properties dialog, xref dialog ... basically any of those "floating" dialogs results in an access violation and crash:

FATAL ERROR: Unhandled Access Violation Reading 0x0002 Exception at 2h

This only happens in Coherence mode, but is completely reproduceable. Full screen and OS window work fine. From the Autodesk crash report, I get the following info (which may be of use):

<OpenGLInfo Vendor="Parallels Inc. & ATI Technologies Inc." Renderer="ParallelS over ATI Radeon X1600 OpenGL Engine" Version="2.0 ATI-1.4.56" />
<GraphicsInfo InfoType="D3D9Config">
<![CDATA[ Driver: PrlVideo.dll
DriverVersion: 3.0.4128.0
Description: Parallels Video Driver
DeviceName: \\.\DISPLAY1
VendorId: 6840
DeviceId: 4401
SubSysId: 0
Revision: 0
WHQLLevel: 0
DeviceType: 0
AdapterOrdinal: 0
Caps: 0
Caps2: 0
Caps3: 0
Presentation: 0
Cursor: 0
Dev: 0
PrimitiveMisc: 0
Raster: 0
ZCmp: 0
SrcBlend: 0
DestBlend: 0
AlphaCmp: 0
Shade: 0
Texture: 0
TextureFilter: 0
CubeTextureFilter: 0
VolumeTextureFilter: 0
TextureAddress: 0
VolumeTextureAddress: 0
Line: 0
MaxTextureWidth: 0
MaxTextureHeight: 0
MaxVolumeExtent: 0
MaxTextureRepeat: 0
MaxTextureAspectRatio: 0
MaxAnisotropy: 0
MaxVertexW: 0
GuardBandLeft: 0
GuardBandTop: 0
GuardBandRight: 0
GuardBandBottom: 0
ExtentsAdjust: 0
Stencil: 0
FVF: 0
TextureOp: 0
MaxTextureBlendStages: 0
MaxSimultaneousTextures: 0
VertexProcessing: 0
MaxActiveLights: 0
MaxUserClipPlanes: 0
MaxVertexBlendMatrices: 0
MaxVertexBlendMatrixIndex: 0
MaxPointSize: 0
MaxPrimitiveCount: 0
MaxVertexIndex: 0
MaxStreams: 0
MaxStreamStride: 0
VertexShaderVersion: 0
MaxVertexShaderConst: 0
PixelShaderVersion: 0
PixelShader1xMaxValue: 0
Dev2: 0
MasterAdapterOrdinal: 0
AdapterOrdinalInGroup: 0
NumberOfAdaptersInGroup: 0
DeclTypes: 0
NumSimultaneousRTs: 0
StretchRectFilter: 0
VertexTextureFilter: 0
MaxVShaderInstructionsExecuted: 0
MaxPShaderInstructionsExecuted: 0
MaxVertexShader30InstructionSlots: 0
MaxPixelShader30InstructionSlots: 0

]]>
</GraphicsInfo>

[cwojo]

I've read a few posts from ages ago but it seems still no fix for AutoCAD2008. I just unfortunately upgraded to 3.0 and my mouse is going crazy. Lack of all control from the mouse but the touchpad it's fine which sucks to draft with. I diasabled the synchronization and saw no improvement at all. Any other tips out there?

[deesee]

I know this won't help you, but I've just purchased one of the new Macbook Pro's and got Parallels 3.0. I have noticed very bizarre mouse behavior and very slow performance, but I'm using AutoCAD 2007.

I have Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 GHz, and 2 GB Ram.

[cwojo]

Same I have a new 2.4 also. Performance seems ok but I only work in 2D.

[dkp]

I heard a juicy rumor that Rhino is working on a native Mac OS X version. That would be pretty sweet.

[auhlixer]

i have the same (autocad 2006) mouse problem, very irritating.......

[auhlixer]

but now the cursor doesn't seemlessly go from osx to xp you have too control+alt

[Atomic_Fusion]

deesee wrote: "I know this won't help you, but I've just purchased one of the new Macbook Pro's and got Parallels 3.0. I have noticed very bizarre mouse behavior and very slow performance, but I'm using AutoCAD 2007."

===

Do you have any mouse enhancements running? USB Overdrive, Mighty Mouse, or others? If so, a simple tweak in those utilities may fix your anomalies.

[ddfrye]

We have been using Autocad in Parallels 3.0 and every time we use the properties dialog box Autocad crashes. Has anyone else had this problem and did you resolve it??
I am running AutoCAD 2008 in Parallels 3.0 (had been running v2.5 with the same problems). I have found a couple of workarounds:
1. If I switch to full screen mode (on my 17" MBP) the problem goes away. I only have the problem in coherence mode.
2. If I want to stay in coherence mode, I open the tool palette first (either pick from the toolbar or enter '_ToolPalettes at the command line. I can then close the tool palette if I don't want it open. I can then open any palette, including properties, that I want to. If I don't open the tool palette first, any other palette I open causes the AutoCAD crash. Please note the difference between a dialog box and a palette: in recent versions of AutoCAD many dialog boxes have been replaced by palettes. I have never had any problem opening any dialog boxes, only palettes.

[phlip]

I'm using AGi32, a lighting design program that was running fine until I upgraded(??) to v3.0 and now i find it won't render. Had great 3D graphics with old version, now nothing.
Just downloaded latest build..seems to have sort of fixed video issue...

I also am trying to connect an HP Designjet 500 plotter with Jetdirect 2400. I currently have two other printers working fine using Bonjour. Does anyone know of a driver to plug in that will allow me to use proper page setup? Printer not responding at all.

[Piet]

I also have the problem of the irratic mouse in Autocad. I'm using a macbook pro, parallels 4560 and autocad 2007. I have tried the following advice from this forum: reducing the hardware acceleration to one setting short of max - this made the problem worse. I have also tried disabling the mouse sync in parallels tools - this also made the problem worse. I downloaded steermouse3.6 - didn't help.

Please help.

[lucerodesign1]

I've been running AutoCAD LT on my MBP since January and it's been relatively smooth sailing. The new version of parallels is much better, but I noticed a problem this morning.

I updated to LT 2008 last month and just today started using it in coherence mode. I could not execute the XREF command to manage my external references. I would get a fatal error and AutoCAD would quit. I tried purging, auditing, etc..., but nothing helped, then I tried several other projects and got the same results. Problem with AutoCAD? No, it all worked fine when I went to fullscreen. I'll post on the Autodesk forum as well to see if this is an update that Autodesk can provide. Thankfully there's an easy work around.

Oh and by the way, you can never have too much RAM, especially in a notebook.

It was hard for me to articulate the following issue, because I really didn't understand the root of this problem until just recently, and couldn't comment until yesterday on the Autodesk discussion group, but there's another problem I've been facing that so far has not been resolved. Posting from Autodesk AutoCAD LT discussion group.
I use a second display and a Wacom Intuos 9x12 graphics tablet. The proportions of the laptop display are forced onto the second display at the setup orientation. In my configuration, what this effectively does is prohibit me from using my tablet on the upper portion of my second monitor. I have to release Parallel's control of the cursor (ctrl-option) in order to access that part of the screen by pen. That is bothersome, and I hope someone can help figure it out. I've tried changing every related setting that I can think of, but with no luck. If anyone has any insight as to how to fix this, PLEASE let me know.

Thanks!

[mdozier]

we use mbpro intel core 2 with 2g memory - been running parallels 3 with xp-pro and AutoCAD '07

using the mighty mouse instead of a microsoft mouse we used the standard parallels tools driver and in windows set the mouse to windows default settings, then adjusted the speeds and the thing smooths out fine. the only issue is the scroll wheel (ball) - the zoom can get a bit jumpy but with a little adjustment it gets usable.

the speed settings in preferences on the mac side and windows side can be adjusted such that the mouse ends up being pretty seamless.

the wireless microsoft optical mouse and the wired microsoft optical mouse speeds are considerably faster than the bluetooth mighty mouse and transitioning between the two is unbearable - you must drastically change the settings and even then the microsoft opticals never seem to smooth out.

hope that helps a bit...

[cwojo]

Yes the properties windows do not work for some reason.

[chi1000]

I have been having the same problem since June with not being able to mouse pan in Autocad. It drives me crazy enough that I cad on my little laptop and havn't used my 24" imac for 3 months now!

Since it worked when I originally installed Parallels back in February I finally went and reinstalled build 1970 and reinstalled Win XP Pro and the 1970 parallels tools and now it all works fine!

My recommendation is downgrade today!

24" Intel Imac
10.4.10 OSX
Parallels build 1970.

[berdinkerdickle]

Is anyone having success panning by changing the "Clicked Wheel Down" to "Middle Click" in USB Overdrive?

http://forum.parallels.com/post42454-17.html

[berdinkerdickle]

I got pan to work with SteerMouse :)

Set "Middle Button" to "Middle Click"

Edit:
I should mention;
I'm using AutoCad 2002 (Full)
Parallels 3.0 - 5158 RC2

[chi1000]

Confirmed. SteerMouse does it! Thanks berdinkerdickle.

24" Intel Imac
10.4.10 OSX
Autocad 2005
Build 3188

[joostvdl]

Hi

I just installed Autocad 2008 on Parallels 3.0 Build 5160. When I try to activate the AutoCAD Software the window with all the information to activate stays blank. Therefore I can't activate it.

Any idea's

[jasonium]

first, make sure that MBUTTONPAN is set to = 1

follow the previously posted instructions using SteerMouse in Leopard to set the middle button to "middle click".

Now heres the important part thats new in Leopard (os 10.5). Go to system preferencecs, and open Expose. On the bottom, theere are button for Dashboard. The one on the right has the defalt set to use the middle mouse button (mouse button 3) to launch Dashboard. Change that setting to "-" or change it to anything other than mouse button 3. When you return to Autocad, you can pan normally without executing the pan command and retake the MBUTTONPAN control that we all love so much.

[CoonHound]

I have AutoCad 2004LT installed on my Mac and it runs just great. The issue I am having concerns the ability to plot to PDF. It doesn't appear as an option in my Plotter manager and I haven't the foggiest idea how to make this happen. Anybody got any ideas?

[jasonium]

you need to install adobe acrobat pro into windows and use pdf as the printer. unlike osx, it doesn't come integrated into windows.

[Xenos]

Hello all,

Here is a workaround for jumping mouse issue:

1. Right click on the Windows Desktop. In the drop-down menu choose "Properties".
2. On Properties Display open "Settings" tab and click "Advanced" button. Open "Troubleshoot" tab.
3. You will see the "Hardware acceleration" slider there. Put the slider on the graduation line preceding maximum Hardware acceleration level mark.

It is possible that you have encountered an incompatibility issue with AutoCAD and Parallels Tools video driver that provides 3D hardware acceleration feature.

Best regards,
Xenos

[Chilbear]

I installed another XP virtual machine and user (my son) on my Aluminum iMac. Inventor is the Autodesk product and I got it to work fine. My intention is to keep the Virtual machines separated.

This morning when I logged back into my account Parallels worked but when I switched to Coherence the taskbar is nowhere to be seen or used but I can switch to Single window and I can function though that is not right.

My question is what is the best method to get the task bar to be usable and since we are both using the same version of Parallels, thought at different times, will one user effect the other user? Currently my account uses the Coherence feature and my son will use full screen mode when in his usage of Parallels. We are using build 5584 and have 3gb of ram.

[Xenos]

Hello Chilbear,

Can you click Applications -> Show Windows Taskbar (Parallels Desktop menu bar) to see the taskbar in Coherence again?

If you and your son have different Virtual Machines, you will not effect each other as your virtual hard drives are different.

Best regards,
Xenos

[Chilbear]

Show Taskbar is clicked on - yet it does not show at all. Is there any way to get it to show itself (wherever it is) or a way to repoisiton it onto the screen? Would deleting the plist be a solution?

Edit:

I deleted the 2 plists for Parallels and that has reset the task bar.

[Xenos]

Hello Chilbear,

Thank you for the feedback.

Deleting Preferences lists is a logical workaround. It is possible that Parallels could not read the task bar settings because of some problems of access to .plist files. However as the problem is gone now - it's just my idea.

Glad to know your task bar is available again.

Best regards,
Xenos

[Elena]

I love the IMAC 20 inch; 2.0GHz the other day when I saw it at the Mac store. Of course the guys at the Mac store said there is NO problems with the Autocad running on Macs. I guess I am on here to findout if its worth it.
1st I was thinking I can do the bootcamp. Last night I read that doesn't really work because of the Autocad licensing only lets you re-input 4 times.
2nd My boyfriend says I can wipe-out all mac and have it only be pc. But I like all the mac stuff that comes with it.
3. Parallels I have read here and other sites http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2007/03/run_autocad_200.html said that it runs very slow. Well slow is my old dell computer and why I need to get a new system. Also the mouse problem.
Ahhh... The sad thing is Autodesk will never be Mac again. I love Mac but need the autocad 2008 for work.
Advice please!

[jackybe67]

We are running autocad 2007 on iMac 2.0, 2 gb ram with parallels build 5582 just fine.

[Elena]

We are running autocad 2007 on iMac 2.0, 2 gb ram with parallels build 5582 just fine.

So with parallels there no licensing problems? That sounds great. Just out of curiosity, why did you go with Mac instead of a PC?
Thank you,
Elena

[jmtayloriii]

I have a new Macbook pro with 2G ram. I am running windows parallel and I allocated half of the ram for windows.

At first, autocad refused to run at all, but I managed to fix that by updating my windows parallel to build 5584. That allowed Autocad to run, but with the following new AND VERY FRUSTRATING!!!! issues.

I installed Autocad LT 2006. When I first start it, the pointer looks right with the pickbox. As soon as I click the mouse, the pickbox disappears and i cannot get it back. Also, when selecting objects, such as for an offset command, the cursor disappears and it is not possible to select anything. I have verified every setting by comparing settings between my old laptop and this one...

itunes and chess works great, but I am forced to use my old HP computer to run Autocad, which frustrates me deeply after spending that kind of money on this now useless toy.

Anyone out there have any clues how to make Autocad LT 2006 run properly on this thing? I am willing to pay for professional help if that is out there. Autocad refuses to help because it is running on an "untested system." Apple has no idea why it wont work.

Thank you in advance!

[Xenos]

Hello Jmtayloriii,

Have you tried a workaround from the post #56?

Best regards,
Xenos

[jmtayloriii]

Xenos, I have done the post 56 work around. Thank you for the response.

I think I am going to upgrade the memory from 2 to 4G and see if that helps. I had it at about .5G for windows, 1.5G for Mac, and changed it to 1 and 1. When I did that, autocad showed the pickbox correctly until I selected the first item i tried, then back to vanishing.

I am thinking that it is either a video card issue, or a memory issue. I figure the memory is a relatively cheap way to troubleshoot, plus it will add a bit of performance anyway, so I will try that.

If you have any other thoughts, they are much appreciated!

Oh, one interesting thing that may provide you much smarter folks than I a clue is this: One of the work arounds said that I could fix the double cursor problem by disabling the mouse snych in paralles tools. When I did that, the extra pointer went away, but it the remaining one would not respond to the mouse.

Thanks again!

JT

[Xenos]

Hello Jmtayloriii,

Could you please send me a screenshot of the "Troubleshoot" tab (Windows Desktop -> Properties -> Settings -> Advanced)?

When you disable Mouse Synchronization in Parallels Tools Center, you lose the option that lets you to switch the control over the mouse and keyboard input by clicking inside or outside the Guest OS window.

So when the option is disabled you should move the cursor over the guest OS window and click in the window to capture the keyboard and mouse in the Virtual Machine.

When the mouse and keyboard input is captured, you cannot move the cursor out of the VM window.

To release the keyboard and mouse to Mac OS X you should press the hot key combination designated to release the keyboard and mouse input. The default combination is Control+Alt or Control+Option.

Best regards,
Xenos

[Chimi]

Hey guys I'm helping my mom out she recently switched to Mac and shes an architect.
I quickly read the first few posts.

She has the lagging mouse thing, I think it's not that uncomfortable but she really needs to fix it.

She read that she needs to have Windows and Mac OS X on two different spaces or by starting up and choosing which operating system to use.

I don't get the whole Mac thing cause I've always used Windows.
Any help??

[Chimi]

Oh she's going craz and she's threatening to sell her Mac!!

( Lol! )
o,o Help me I love her having the new Mac, or she's taking her old comp back!! (Lol she gave me her comp PLEASEEE!!!)

[Chimi]

Oh and anothr question,

*frowns*
How much time do replies usually take?
Or is it just that I am on a different Time Zone?

[Xenos]

Hello Chimi,

I have proposed a workaround in the post #56. Just citing it here:

1. Right click on the Windows Desktop. In the drop-down menu choose "Properties".
2. On Properties Display open "Settings" tab and click "Advanced" button. Open "Troubleshoot" tab.
3. You will see the "Hardware acceleration" slider there. Put the slider on the graduation line preceding maximum Hardware acceleration level mark.

It is possible that you have encountered an incompatibility issue with AutoCAD and Parallels Tools video driver that provides 3D hardware acceleration feature.

And another thing I would like to let you know: if you need a prompt answer from Parallels staff, you'd better use e-mail or phone support (http://www.parallels.com/en/support/desktop/). I hope the Mac has not been sold yet...

Best regards,
Xenos

[Chimi]

Well my mom is happy with her Mac! It hasn't been sold yet, but she really appreciates the help. ;D

Um the problem wasn't solved, =[
She'd be very sad to sell Manzanita back (um we call it that! :P ), but she needs to work.

Is that the only solution or will we have to use the "Boot Camp" thing?

[Xenos]

Chimi, it is the only solution currently. We are working to implement the fix of the issue in future major update.

Best regards,
Xenos

[Tonelux]

I have Autocad, Pcad, Designer, Corel, etc running on my PC of crap, and with a RAID array, full mirror backup each night, I touched a trace in PCAD, heard a TING and my system went into a booting loop. No virus, just a registry that had to have it's own hard drive.

After all that backing up, it still took me 4 days to get my system back, then after a week of use, I went to use AutoCad and it wouldn't load. The company told me that a Windows update has some NET program that has been killing them all over the place.

I have been transferring everything over to my MAC PRO 8 core 3gig machine, this was the final straw.

I switched over to it, ran ACAD and did my edit. My only complaint is accessing more processors and a little slowness on the mouse, zoom which was discussed earlier.

Here is my plan:

Load Windows, load only the programs that HAVE to run in Windows, disable the access to the internet completely, only to the network, use the MAC for everything else. With the internet disabled and no browser, you drop your chances of attack and viruses. I have also found that most software companies will transfer your license to the MAC platform for free to $100.00.

I feel free again.

[Tonelux]

If you are in the Coherence mode, go to Control Panel, Then Display, Then to Settings, then to Advanced, then to Troubleshoot.

If the worthless red HELP screen comes up, you clicked Troubleshoot a few steps ahead of where you should have.

Backing it off one click helps a little, but it still feels a bit sticky.

[bomberaia]

Yes, it runs great on Macs with Boot Camp. Better then my PC's did. I run AutoDesk Revit on a MacPro and MacBook Pro. I use AutoCad just to look at AutoCad drawings. I just installed Parallels on my MacBook Pro and Revit runs fine.

[TOM HARINTON]

I have Autocad Lt 2004 and am running it under Parallels on my mac computer and its the worst mistake I ever made in my entire business career. I thought I could avoid all of the problems of a windows computer by buying a mac and installing Parallels to run Autocad but I now have three times more problems than I ever had.

[TOM HARINTON]

I did just what you are considering and its the worst mistake I ever made. My advice - don't even think of doing it.